This topic seemed to warrant it's own thread given our collective experiences here. For any that don't know, I have learned today that Sony outsourced their "customer service team" within the last year (if you can use the word customer AND Sony AND service in the same breath).

Not only a pain for us mere consumers it would seem, but for the independent dealers too.

I have just avoided a farce where the SONY recommended repair agent I was told to take my 710 to, wanted a £20 upfront fee before even looking at it. If NFF then more charges would be due. Sony don't pay enough they said. So anyone in the BS post-code area, be wary.

Ref. the other agent's excess charges, Sony say that these excess charges by THEIR agents are NOT their problem. I begged to differ with our customer service friend in Bombay or wherever he was, and let him know what I thought of his "service"...he said and I quote "we have no supervisors or managers here".....on those points, I can well believe he was right.

This is one slippery slope Sony, watch as I wave you bye bye, just as I have more disposable income to spend where I choose.

Ciao.
Last edited by grn : 29-11-2006 at 17:49

mmm. Not a PVR problem from me but I had a problem with a sony tv I bought back in 2001, asked where my nearest service centre was, and got told to buy a new tv! Told them where to stick it, and got the guys name and id number, got the email for customer complaints from the website and told them. Took it to my local tv man, who fixed the problem (the aeriel socket had broken) got charged £20 and got a 6 month warranty.

Don't bother getting it repaired! In my view it is NOT repairable as such. It is a soft/firmware problem (Sony have pretty well admitted this, see other threads) and as such not your problem... What is important though according to my tame Trading Standards bloke is to "register" the problem within the guarantee period and then pursue the situation from there...... You certainly shouldn't be forking out cash to have the wretched thing looked at..... I'm now firmly of the opinion that we should all be looking for refunds and NOT "repairs" which will almost certainly be second rate bodge ups

I've given to ringing them daily to find out how may "call" is progressing. Everytime same answer, "you have been told to be taking it to a dealer sir" (I added the 'sir' bit - sounds better)..and when asked what I said last time about a call back from mgmt...oh deary me, no record of that sir.....sounds about right then. Only asked 3 times so far <yawn>. SO should any Sony Mgmt types be reading this...your customer care is no existant and to have no mgmt available to speak to CUSTOMERS IS BOTH CAVALIER and ultimately stupid. Get a grip, if you know how to. Oops too late. Never mind. Note to self : Get a job as a Customer Services Mgr at Sony as no work is involved.
Last edited by grn : 30-11-2006 at 20:05

GIve this guy a call howard.stringer@am.sony.com detailing specifically all your problems and concerns. He should be able to assist unless his head is to far up his ar?e. He is the CEO so should be able to get you some responce

Despite earlier rants, it would seem SONY Uk are listening - it's a matter of getting a good guy to speak to. I have a positive outlook at the moment and remain hopeful of a fix to my 710. Thanks to those who are being helpful as whilst I believe it is right to chastise those that don't help/listen, praise where praise is due also.

jonathon White Was My Knight In Shining Armour... But It Remains A Right State Of Affairs That We Have To "make" Email Addresses Up To Circumvent The Truly Awful Customer Services.

Anyway Keep Your Peckers Up. We Really Are Getting Somewhere Now. Especially With News Of An Ota Fix.

I contacted Sony in January of this year, they gave me the name of a local repair shop (not Sony) on an industrial estate about 10 miles away. I telephoned to book my Sony 510 and delivered it on the day. I had to take the receipt as proof within guarantee.

I picked it up about nearly three weeks later, they had replaced the DVD drive.

I didn't have to pay a thing.

I would be really annoyed if I had had to pay anything to get a repair under warranty.

Before buying Sony again I will make sure I check the warranty repair process.

PC

The repair process is the same with anyone - it's via the dealer you bought the set from, and all your legal rights are against them, and NOT the manufacturer.

You should be approching the company who sold you the item, and they should sort it all out, either with a prompt repair, a replacement, or a refund.

Thanks....

I took it back to Currys they said they would return it to Sony who then send it to this "Fairly Local" repair shop. I could speed the process up by contacting Sony and taking it myself. Which I did.

However I would not have accepted this if I would have been asked to pay anything, even if it was a deposit.

PC

Well Currys wouldn't return it to Sony, they would send it (at Currys expense) to a Sony Authorised Service Centre, then they would pay for it to be returned once repaired. If it's fairly close, they might actually deliver it and fetch it back.

Currys are members of RETRA, and the code of practice they agree to keep to is a maximum of ten days for the return of the item under repair. If it's not back in that time you can pressure Currys to sort it out pronto! - or replace or refund. If you've sent it back yourself you've taken Currys out of the loop, and you don't have that option any more - effectively reducing your legal rights against Currys.

BTW, it's highly unlikely that a repair would be back in ten days if it has to go away - there's lots of discussions going on currently about the length of time repairs take. You have to bear in mind that the repair agent has no responsibility for a speedy repair, so he has no incentive to make the job faster.
Last edited by Nigel Goodwin : 12-12-2006 at 20:20

Again thanks for the info..... ref Currys RETRA and 10 days turn around time.

At the time I had been very dissapointed with my original purchase a Liteon 5045 a few months before, . Currys replaced it for the Sony. I thought they were trying to be helpful in giving me an option to speed things up.

PC

I wrote to this guy, don't waste your time, the letter was marked private and confidential. However he did not deem my letter worthy to reply to, rather getting somebody else to reply with the same junk, we are working on a fix, not sure when it will be ready, if ever....

I was a fan of SONY but I can safely say after this year their equipment is no where near as good as it was and to boot they are not interested in fixing the issues when highlighted, instead they sit on their hands and blame the broadcasters.

EDIT: And a word of warning consider seriously about the reasons for buying from a Sony Centre (certainly in the Leamington Spa area), all UK Sony centres are franchised and as such can pretty much do as they please. So expect no better level of service than an internet box shifter.
Last edited by vandervell : 20-12-2006 at 13:24

Well anyone reading this i have contacted Trading Standards after Sony admitted they did not fix o touch my Sony computer when it was sent in on the first time, the second time they updated the firmware and drivers, this to anyone, can be done easily at home and only takes mins. Sony then wanted me to wait for an engineer to send a message to the staff or man the phones to see if they could fix my problem this is now 3 weeks. So i have taken it up on myself to send the retailer where i brought my computer form and Sony Vaio computers a letter to inform them they have 14 days to respond or action will be taken well it been 3 days and they both have still not responded. Sony Vaio are the worst company ever after OVerclockers UK.

Well from my experience do not phone Sony Vaio they can not give a straight answer to you.

kiellliam what happened at overclockers UK have you used them before?

I bought some stuff from overclockers once. In all my life I have never dealt with a worse company for after sales service. I'm a kindly soul, but if I ever wished any company to burn in hell .. no guesses which one.

Picked up my sony1065 from the leeds sony store this morning. The assistant told me that the player required an over the air download to correct the problem and i should take it home and leave it on bbc1 untill the software updates. I had to tell him that the software download on bbc1 was not untill the 28th july. If i had not found out the correct info for myself on this forum i would have been sat watching bbc1 for the next 7 days with no software update and maybe even took the player back to the shop. They also tried giving it back without the remote untill i pointed it out to him. Appalling customer service.

Well i brought a product from Overclockers uk and they gave me a faulty one. I then took it back and the manager said they would not have it back due to a small rip in the box it came in. Well i contacted Trading Standards "well known to trading standards" and they told me i was in the right. So i took it back to get a refund and told them i have been in contact with Trading Standards, they too it back of me and refunded me straight away, do not send a letter to them as it is a waste of time. If th product is in the same condition as you got it YOU can get a refund back on it within the given days.